Saratoga Lake resident complain storm water runoff crumbling Route 9P

Saratoga considers new tree-cutting regulations

Updated 1:33 pm, Thursday, September 14, 2017

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. This is taken across from her house. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. This is taken across ... more

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. This is taken across from her house. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. This is taken across ... more

Area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. Sinking older steps are seen on the left of the new steps leading down to lake. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. Sinking older steps are seen on the left ... more

Sinking older steps are seen on the right of new steps leading down to lake where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Sinking older steps are seen on the right of new steps leading down to lake where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, ... more

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. Sinking older steps are seen on the left of the new steps leading down to lake. This is taken across from her house. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. Sinking older steps ... more

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. This is taken across from her house. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. This is taken across ... more

A "no clear cutting" sign is seen in front of Barbara Faraone's home on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. There is an area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development across from her home. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

A "no clear cutting" sign is seen in front of Barbara Faraone's home on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. There is an area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due ... more

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. Sinking older steps are seen on the left of the new steps leading down to lake. This is taken across from her house. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

Barbara Faraone shows area where route 9P is collapsing under the weight of traffic due to increased traffic from development on Saratoga Lake on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 in Saratoga, N.Y. Sinking older steps ... more

SARATOGA - A long-time Saratoga Lake residents says that new developments above of the lake are causing so much storm water runoff that Route 9P is collapsing.

Barbara Faraone, who has lived on the lake for 35 years, stood across the street from her Saratoga home on the state highway and pointed down.

"See those lilies," she said. "They used to be up here."

But it's not just the lilies that are tumbling down the embankment into the lake. It's asphalt, the guard rail and the metal stairs that led to her dock. She built two new sets of stairs, which she expects won't last long either.

Every time it rains, she says, a river of water runs down the hills through the streams, her road and culverts, eroding the very ground that holds up 9P. And with every new development, she said, it gets worse.

"There are spots like this all along 9P," Faraone said. "It's not going to get any better. It's just going to get worse because you can't stop a man from building on his property. But there has to be a way to stop so much of the damage."

Supervisor Tom Wood said the town is trying. The town also has a tree-cutting moratorium in place until December. In addition, the board is considering a new law that would restrict further cutting of trees above the lake. The Timber Harvesting Local Law, which is now in draft form, restricts clear-cutting to preserve vegetation that keeps soil in place. Selectively harvesting trees, the law continues, "ensures the continued health and vitality of a forest area and its related ecosystem."

"Our goal is to protect the environment," Wood said. "We have to regulate clear cutting especially in areas on the hill above the lake. We are all concerned about the lake."

Dr. Tom Yannios applauds the town efforts, but believes the law needs to be stricter. He says the 12-trees per lot regulation is fine, but that doesn't include the trees that can be cut down for a house foundation, driveway or a road through a development. He and his neighbors are especially concerned about the 20-home Cedar Bluff subdivision that promises breathtaking views of the lake by cutting down the trees along a ridge above 9P and the lake.

"The soils on the cliff drain very rapidly onto 9P," Yannios said. "If we remove more trees, flatten the area which is now full of ravines, we are going to have an enormous drainage problem, an underground erosion problem and more silt, lawn fertilizers and pesticides polluting the lake."

Many on the lake have seen the change since development has increased atop the hill. In addition to complaining to their elected officials, they are staking "no clear-cutting" signs on their yards. The signs were initially placed to show opposition to Cedar Bluff. But many signs are now popping up in Stillwater, where the town board wants to accelerate the pace of development.

In recent weeks, though, many of the signs, especially those near the Cedar Bluff have been pulled up and tossed in the woods. John Cashin who lives on Cedar Bluff Road finds this disturbing.

"It is indeed unfortunate that the efforts for the good of the entire community can be frustrated by petty, small minded individuals," Cashin said.

As the battle between neighbors and Cedar Bluff developer John Witt continues, Faraone at the bottom of the hill, said her immediate concern is the road. She has asked that state Department of Transportation for a repair, which is promised for 2019.

She also asked for the agency to lower the weight-limit for vehicles. But a spokesman for the DOT said there are "no plans to weight-restrict the road."

She doesn't blame DOT because she knows that continuous state cuts hinder its abilities. But she does point a finger at the developers.

"We are allowing this to happen so some can have a view," she said. "We don't need that. This thing has got to end. We are ruining the lake."